90 M. Humboldt on the Great Cavern of the Guacharo. 
sojourn in the deep recesses of the cavern. Man,” say they, 
should avoid places which are enlightened neither by the Sun 
nor by the Moon.” To go and join the guacharoes, is to rejoin 
their fathers, is to die. The magicians and the poisoners per- 
form their nocturnal tricks at the entrance of the cavern, to con- 
jure the chief of the evil spirits. 
At the point where the river forms the subterraneous cas- 
cade, a hill covered with vegetation, which is opposite the open- 
ing of the grotto, presents itself in a very picturesque manner. 
It appears at the extremity of a straight passage, 240 toises in 
length. The stalactites, which descend from the vault, and 
which resemble columns suspended in the air, display themselves 
on a back-ground of verdure. The opening of the cavern ap- 
peared singularly contracted, when we saw it about the middle 
of the day, illumined by the vivid light reflected at once from 
the sky, the plants, and the rocks. The distant light of day 
formed somewhat of magical contrast with the darkness that 
surrounded us in those vast caverns. We discharged our pieces 
at a venture, wherever the cries of the nocturnal birds, and the 
flapping of their wings, led us to suspect that a great number 
of nests were crowded together. After several fruitless attempts, 
M. Bonpland succeeded in killing a couple of guacharoes, which, 
dazzled by the light of the torches, seemed to pursue us. This 
circumstance afforded me the means of drawing this bird, which 
hitherto had remained unknown to naturalists. We climbed, 
not without some difficulty, the small hill, whence the subterra- 
neous rivulet descends. We saw that the grotto was perceptibly 
contracted, retaining only forty feet in height ; and that it con- 
tinued stretching to the north-east, without deviating from its 
primitive direction, which is parallel to that of the great valley 
of Caripe. 
In this part of the cavern, the rivulet deposits a blackish 
mould, very like the matter which, in the grotto of Muggen- 
dorf in Franconia, is called the eai'th of sacrifice. We could 
not discover, whether this fine and spongy mould fall through 
the cracks which communicate with the surface of the ground 
above, or be washed down by the rain-water that penetrates in- 
to the cavern. It was a mixture of silex, alumen, and vegetable 
detritus. We walked in tliick mud to a spot, where we beheld 
